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Brig.-Gen. Jimmy Khoo

Singapore’s Brigadier-General Jimmy Khoo seems to get frequent speaking invites at defense conferences; and after reading a couple of his talks, we can see why. His tongue-in-cheek discussion of “8 Reasons Why Network Centric Warfare is Irrelevant” at the Network Transformation 2003 conference in Brussels offers an excellent introduction to the pressures driving NCW as an emerging doctrine among the world’s advanced militaries. His comments on the evolution of Singapore’s military, the steps they’re taking toward their own transformation, and the OODA Loop help to explain why this tiny city-state is considered a decision-maker to watch in the global defense market.

It also helps that Brig.-Gen. Khoo is very down to earth and has a sense of humour. His “Dummies Guide to Net-Centric Warfare” speech at the C4I Asia 2004 Conference [slides in PDF; 8.1MB] is a fine follow-up. Sub-headings included:

• Chapter One: “What Fog?”
• Chapter Two: “It’s Not the Technology, Stupid!”
• Chapter Three: “NCW Redefines Mathematics”
• Chapter Four: “Play with Lego”
• Chapter Five: “Bet on People”